ZAGREB, March 14 (Hina) - On Wednesday Croatia received a note from Bosnia-Herzegovina's Foreign Ministry in which the latter confirms that Zagreb is an important factor and partner in the stabilisation and democratisation of Bosnia,
and it did not comment on an unofficial Croatian initiative for the re-organisation of that neighbouring country, a spokesman for the Croatian Foreign Ministry, said this evening.
ZAGREB, March 14 (Hina) - On Wednesday Croatia received a note from
Bosnia-Herzegovina's Foreign Ministry in which the latter confirms
that Zagreb is an important factor and partner in the stabilisation
and democratisation of Bosnia, and it did not comment on an
unofficial Croatian initiative for the re-organisation of that
neighbouring country, a spokesman for the Croatian Foreign
Ministry, said this evening. #L#
"We have received the Bosnian Foreign Ministry's note in which the
ministry reiterated its firm belief that Croatia is an important
factor and partner in the stabilisation and democratisation of
Bosnia, given that Croatia is a signatory to the Dayton peace
accords and a neighbouring and friendly country," the spokesman
Goran Rotim told Hina on the phone.
According to Rotim, the note reads Bosnia's most important goals in
its foreign policy, which are the "fulfilment of obligations from a
road-map" document, bids to come closer to EuroAtlantic
integration process and the active participation in a
stabilisation and association process.
Bosnia's note does not comment in any way on the Croatian unofficial
initiative about its new organisation, under which that country
should be arranged into 12 to 14 cantons, with bicameral parliament
and the abolishment of the incumbent two entities - the (Croat-
Moslem) Federation and the Republic of Srpska.
"There is no thing like that in the note," Rotim asserted.
According to unofficial sources, Sarajevo forwarded a note to
Zagreb to prevent wrong interpretations of last Saturday's meeting
between Croatia's and Bosnia's top officials in the eastern
Croatian town of Slavonski Brod as well as wrong interpretations of
the subsequent statements of participants in the meeting, which
have appeared in the media of both countries since then.
Present at the meeting were Croatia's Prime Minister Ivica Racan,
Foreign Minister Tonino Picula, Croatian Social Liberal Party
(HSLS) leader Drazen Budisa (who is th author of the said
initiative) and Bosnia's officials: the Council of Ministers'
chairman, Bozidar Matic, Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija and
the Federation's President Karlo Filipovic.
Rotim said last Monday that the Slavonski Brod meeting did not at
all revolve around Budisa's proposal, but on that occasion the
spokesman announced that this suggestion would be considered at a
meeting of Croatian Foreign Minister Picula and the European
Union's foreign policy and security high representative, Javier
Solana, set for Thursday in Brussels.
(hina) ms